1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anti-glare device, and more particularly to a digital type anti-glare device capable of displaying a current time, an operation time, a temperature and humidity in a digital manner and facilitating the input of an operator by a touch sensor and encoder input, and a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when welding, cutting and grinding are performed, an operator wears a welding mask for blocking strong light and performs an operation, in order to protect the operator's eyes from various types of harmful materials. Accordingly, various convenient and safe electronic welding masks have been developed and used.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional protective mask including an anti-glare device.
As shown in FIG. 1, the protective mask 1 including the anti-glare device 2 formed on a front surface thereof reduces illumination intensity of light irradiated to the operator's eyes using an anti-glare plate 5 which is a liquid crystal display (LCD) included in the anti-glare device 2.
That is, a photo-sensor unit 4 such as a photodiode included in the front surface of the anti-glare device 2 senses light generated by a welding and cutting torch. A control circuit included in the anti-glare device 2 controls the anti-glare plate 5 to be darkened such that illumination intensity of light passing through the anti-glare plate is reduced. Accordingly, the operator's eyes are protected by the protective mask 1.
FIG. 2 is a view showing a user interface for adjusting shade, light detection sensitivity and time delay of the conventional anti-glare device.
Referring to FIG. 2, the user interface of the conventional anti-glare device 2 includes a shade adjustment unit 6, a light detection sensitivity adjustment unit 7 and a time delay adjustment unit 8.
The shade adjustment unit 6 adjusts a shade value of the anti-glare plate 5. The shade value refers to a darkness degree of the anti-glare plate 5. If the shade value is adjusted by the shade adjustment unit 6, light transmissivity of the anti-glare plate 5 is adjusted.
The light detection sensitivity adjustment unit 7 adjusts light detection sensitivity of the anti-glare device 2. The light detection sensitivity refers to a value indicating a degree to which the control circuit of the anti-glare device 2 responds to an output signal of the photo-sensor unit 4. If the light detection sensitivity level is high, the control circuit may respond to the output signal with low illumination intensity.
The time delay adjustment unit 8 adjusts time delay of the anti-glare device 2. If the time delay level is low, the control circuit of the anti-glare device 2 rapidly switches the anti-glare plate 5 from a dark state to a bright state when the photo-sensor unit 4 detects that welding is finished. In contrast, if the time delay level is high, it takes much time to switch from the dark state to the bright state.
Generally, in industries associated with the anti-glare device, the shade value level is 5 to 13, the light detection sensitivity level is 0 to 10, and the time delay level is 0 to 10. The user interface of the conventional anti-glare device 2 includes a power switch 9 for turning on/off power, a battery 10 for supplying power, and a low voltage indicator 11 for indicating a low voltage state of the device.
The present applicant developed various anti-glare devices. For example, Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0052291 filed on Jul. 6, 2004 discloses an electromagnetic wave detection anti-glare device for detecting electromagnetic waves generated by a welding or cutting torch together with light of high illumination intensity and protecting operator's eyes. Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0127844 filed on Dec. 22, 2005 discloses an anti-glare device using voice recognition control, which performs a welding light blocking function using voice recognition technology, conveniently controls various functions without using an operator's hand during welding, and reports a control and operation state vocally, and a method of controlling the same.
However, in the conventional anti-glare device, as shown, the shade adjustment unit 6, the light detection sensitivity adjustment unit 7 and the time delay adjustment unit 8 are manually turned or pressed. There are products in which the adjustment units 6, 7 and 8 are digitalized into push buttons. However, in this case, when the push buttons are used, a display device for displaying a level, such as a Light Emitting Diode (LED) or a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), is necessary. If the LED is used, a power management problem is caused and thus the pressing of the button may be checked only when the button is pressed. If the LCD is used, a dome-shaped switch panel should be used. In these methods, since switch contact is induced by pressing the push buttons, operation failure of a switch, a knob and a screen window formed of a polycarbonate (PC) material may occur due to abrasion, dust, humidity or the like.